Chair



E. RAcz April 29, 1930.

CHAIR Filed Jan. 23, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet owl INVENTOR ERNEST @ACZ M, ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 29, 1930 ERNEST RACZ, or DETROIT,

MICHIGAN, ASSTGNOR TO BURROUGHS ADDING COMPANY, OF DETROIT,'MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN Application filed January 23, 1928. Serial No. 248,595.

This invention relates to.a chair.

Its general object is to provide an ofiice chair of improved and simplified construction such that it may be manufactured at low cost by simple manufacturing methods and easily assembled after the partshave been produced.

A further object is to provide an extremely durable chair that will withstand hard usage such as it may receive in factories and similar places. To this end the chair is made entirely of metal, but it is nevertheless constructed so that it is light and convenient to handle.

Another object is to provide a chair with convenient and improved means for adjust ing the height of the seat and the angle and height of its back.

Still another object is to provide a chair that will swivel easily and. one in which the swivel construction will be extremely durable. 4

A further object is to provide an improved seat cushion construction- Still another object is to providea chair that may be easily and conveniently packed for shipment in a small space in a knocked down condition and one which may be easily assembled without expert skill owing to the small number of sections comprising it, and the obvious manner in which they go together.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the specification and drawings. D

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the chair.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation.

Fig. 3-is a vertical sectional view of the swivel construction and the means for adjusting the height of the seat.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section similar to Fig. 3, but taken at right angles to Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section through the supporting standard substantially on the line 55 of Fig. 3 and with the seat lock in released condition.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the adjusting clamp for the chair back.

Fig. 7 is'a detailed side elevation and section of one of the races for the ball bearing swivel construction.

The chair comprises in general a base, a seat supporting standard, a seat member, and a back, together with a cushion for the seat and one for the back.

The base 1 comprises an integral casting provided with four equally spaced legs having casters 2 attached to the under sides of their outer ends. The upper part of the base is constructed in the form of a collar 3 which is split on both sides at 4 and provided with tightening bolts 5 by means of which the split portions can be tightly clamped. around a cylindrical supporting standard.

The seat supporting standard includes a lower cylindrical member or sleeve 6 within which fits an upper cylindrical member or sleeve 7 as illustrated most clearly in Figs. 3 and 4. The upper sleeve turns relative to the lower through a ball bearing swivel connection of extremely simple, inexpensive and rugged construction. Fixed to the sleeve 6 is a lower ball race 8 illustrated in inverted position in Fig. 7. This race is made of a single metal stamping with ears 9 and a groove 10 for the reception 11. The ears are stamped out and bent to shape when the race is formed without requiring any complicated drawing and annealing operations. The ears are preferably spot welded to ball bearings 11 is a second race member 12 exactly like the race 8. In fact, the races are interchangeable which avoids the necessity of making and keeping in stock separate upper and lower races. The ears of the upper race are spot welded to a short intermediate sleeve 13 of the same diameter as the lower sleeve 6, the parts being proportioned so that when assembled as viewed in Figs. 3 and 4, there is a slight space between the sleeves 6 and 13 to permit relative turning movement of them. The two raceways 8 and 12 are held in assembled position by means of lower and upper plates 14 and 15 respectively which are suitably spaced by the sleeves 1t and held together by the bolts 17. Shouldit be necessary to replace any of the of ball bea'rings the sleeve 6. On top of the the entire bearing maybe easily taken ap This provides a simple construction with a circular ball race of relatively wide diameter and one in which the load is distributed over a plurality of ball bearings. The ball raceof diameter greater than that of the supporting standard contributesto the stability of the chair and the large number of balls not only prolongs the life of the swivel mounting, but also makes the chair easier to turn owing to the reduced frictional contact.

The upper sleeve 7 is made adjustable up and down relative to the intermediate sleeve 13. For this purpose the sleeve 7 is provided with diametrically opposed longitudinal slots 20 (Fig. 4) having enlarged circular portions 21 for the reception of a. pin 22 which extends through these openings and through circular openings 23 in the sleeve 13. These slots extend to within a short distance of the bottom of the sleeve 7, but they stop short of the bottom in order to prevent the sleeve from being pulled. completely out of sleeve 6, such action being prevented by the pin 22 contacting the bottoms of slots 20. The pin 22 is longer than the diameter of sleeve 13 through which it projects and itis.

urged outwardly to the right in Fig. 3 by a spring 24 positioned between the sleeve 13 and the head 25 of the pin." The movement of the pinunder the influenceof the spring is limited by the head 26 on its opposite end which contacts the sleeve 13. The pin 22 is of a diameter such that it fits snugly into the openings 21 in the sleeve 7 and through the corresponding circular openings 23 in the sleeve 13-, but it has two reduced portions 27 and 28 which are of a diameter slightl less than the Width of theslots 20 in the sleeve 7 \Vhen the pin 22 is ushed inwardly, or to the left as viewed in ig. 3, to cause the reduced portions 27 and 28 to re ister with the slots 20 in the sleeve 7, the s eeve may be moved up and down to adjust its height. Upon releasing the pin, the spring 24 moves it back to normal to move its main body of larger diameter into one set of holes 21 to hold the sleeve 7 in its new adjusted position. The edges of the reduced portions 27 and 28 of the pin are beveled softbat if the sleeve 7 is positioned with a set of its openings 21 exactly in register with the pin when the latter is released, the beveled edges will tend to bring the parts into alignment to allow the pin 22 to move completely home to its normal position for holding the parts relative to one another.

It will be noted that, with this construetion, the wei ht on the standard is sup orted by ball bearings which are considers ly removed from the center of rotation and the sleeve 7 is maintained in upright position by its telescopic connection with the lower sleeve 6 which is held tightly in the relatively heavy base casting 1. The sleeve 7 may be adjusted up and down very easily by simply pressing inwardly on the head 25 of the pin 22 and then moving the sleeve up or down as desired to the proper position after which pressure on the head is released and the bolt springs back to position to hold the parts to the position where they have been adjusted.

The seat includes a casting 30 having four arms 31 and a sleeve 32, the latter fitting over the upper end of the sleeve 7, to which it is fastened by a set screw 33. Bolted on top of the arms 31 by bolts 34 is a metal seat plate 35 comprising a simple metal stamping cut or stamped out of a flat metal strip.

The back of the chair includes a T-shaped' support (Fig. 2) comprising a vertically positioned tubular member or sleeve 40 having a T -head 41. The sleeve 40 extends rather loosely through a circular openin in the rear of the seat plate 35 and throng a clamp 42 illustrated in detail in Fig. 6. This clamp not only holds the sleeve 40 in its adjusted vertical position, but it provides a means for adjusting the inclination of the back. The clamp surrounds the sleeve 40 as illustrated in Fig. 6 and its free ends are urged apart by a spring 43 surrounding a bolt 44 which extends through both of the free ends of the clamp and through a slot 45 in a plate 46 which is spot welded or otherwise secured to the rear lower surface of the seat plate 35 (Fig. 2). A thumb nut or handle 47 is screw threaded onto the outer end of the bolt and, when tightened, it tightens the clamp to hold the sleeve 40 against y its various inclined positions, the sleeve 40 being adjustable to a variety of such positions by moving the bolt 44 laterally in the slot 45. The opening in the tin plate 35 is such that it freely permits this adjustment of sleeve 40.

Pivoted to the ends of the T-head 41 b ears 48 is a back plate 49 to which a back cushion 50 is secured by snap fasteners 51.

The rear of the back plate has a projecting lug 52 carrying a rubber bufler for contacting the vertical sleeve 40 to properly space and position the back plate 49.

A seat cushion 53 is fixed to the chair in a novel manner by providing a pocket 54 on the lower front side of the cushion, which pocket hooks over the front edge of the seat plate as illustrated in Fig: 1. The rear end of the cushion terminates in a flap 55 having a reinforced circular opening for receiving the sleeve 40 of the back support. The seat cushion is hooked over the seat plate before the back is put on and the member 40 is then inserted through the opening in the flap 35 at the same time that it is ositioned throu h the opening in the seat plate 35 so that t e seat cushion is securely held in position and cannot be removed except by removing the back.

It will thus be observed that an extremely simple yet a very rigid and durable construction has been provided. All the parts except the cushions are made'of metal. These parts are mostly simple meta-l stampings or parts cut-from metal tubing or metal strips. The base and the seat castings are both of simple construction. All the parts are quite light with the exception of the base which is relatively heavy in order to give the chair stability. The chair is orov-ided with the necessar adjustments for regulating its height an' positioning the back rest, which adjustments are very simple. The swivel construction is extremely durable; there is very little friction, the parts may be easily oiled, and, if necessary, it is a simple matter to replace them should they become worn.

Another advantage of the chair is, that it can be packed in a very small space in a knocked down condition. It comprises, in

j eiiect, four sections, a base which may be packed in a small fiat box, a seat supporting standard which may be put in the box along with the base, a seat member'which is about the same size as the base and which may also be laced in a small space in the box, and a bac which may be put in with the other sections. The cushions can easily be added and serve as packing. This presents a very marked contrast to the usual chair which is bulky, requires great care in packing, and occupies a very considerable space. In addition to-the packing advantages, the chair canbe very easily and simply assembled as it is obvious how it goes together. i

It is to be understood that the construction shown is for purposes of illustration and that variations may be made in it without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

The claims in this application have not been directed to the seat cushion or to the back rest construction, such subject-matter being covered in divisional cases now on file, Serial No. 370,520,'filed June 13, 1929, and Serial No. 371,165, filed June 15, 1929.

I claim:

1. A chair having a base, a tubular standard carried by said base, a ball race member attached to the upper end of said standard, a plurality of ball bearings in said race member, a second race member resting on said ball bearings and connected to'an intermediate tubular portion, means for holdin said two race members together, and a tu ular seat supporting stan ard adjustably connected to said intermediate tubular member.

2. A chair havin a base, a tubular standard carried by said ase, an annular ball race member attached to the outside of the upper endof the standard, a plurality of ball bearings in said race member, a second annular race member resting on said ball bearings and connected to an intermediate tubular member, clamping means for holding said race members together, and a tubular seat supporting standard adjustably connected to sald intermediate tubular member.

3. A chair having a base, a cylindrical standard carried by said base, an annular race member attached to the outside of the upper end of said standard, a plurality of ball hearings in said race member, a duplicate race member resting on said ball bearings in inverted position relative to the first race member, an intermediate circular tube connected to said second race member, a clamping device for holdin said race members together, and a cylindrlcal seat sup orting member adjustably carried by em intermediate cylindrical member.

4. A portable chair of the oflice type havv ing a relatively broad base that may be readily moved about a floor, a seat and a vertically adjustable swivel supporting con"- 5. A portable chair of the ofiice type hav- 4 ing a relatively broad base that may be readily moved about a floor, a seat and a vertically adjustable tubular support between the seat and base including a swivel connection havin an annular ball bearing on the exterior o the tubular support between its ends.

6. A portable chair of the oflice type having a relatively broad base that may be readily moved about a floor, a seat, a telesco ing tubular. connection between the base an seat, one portion of said tubular connection being swiveled relative to the other, and

a ball-bearing between said tubular portions having an annular ball race of substantial diameter to rovide a bearing1 at a substantial distance om the axis of t my name.

ERNEST RACZ.

e tubular sup- 

